The win sees the Daggers four points off the play-offs, with a game in hand over A.F.C. Fylde who currently occupy seventh position in the Vanarama National League. Dagenham assistant coach, Darren Currie, gave especially high praise to Fejiri Okenabirhie in his post-match interview: “He looked back to his devastating best today.”
Speedy Start
Dagenham went ahead in the match early on, through an Okenabirhie strike, which silenced the travelling Chester fans in the 11th minute. However, Chester responded twenty minutes later, to make the game 1-1 through a Jordan Archer goal which deservedly levelled the game.
Going in to the second half, Chester came out on the front foot, which was duly rewarded with a Matty Waters goal in the 62nd minute. The game continued to be end to end, until man of the match Okenabirhie scored his second of the game to level the score at 2-2, with five minutes left to play.
Dagenham’s delight
The Daggers found themselves ahead in the 88th minute, as Chester’s Andy Halls headed past his own keeper, and into his own net in the dying moments of the game. This cruel setback took the life out of the otherwise resilient Chester side. As the game ended, Chester’s disappointment was contrasted with Dagenham’s delight, with the struggling East-Londoners giving the fans something to cheer about, in a dark time financially and behind the scenes for everyone at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Man of the match
Speaking after the game, Currie praised the team’s unity and their continued hard work and focus in training: “In recent games we’ve been really pleased with performance levels, and two wins out of the last three has been very good.
“We created some good opportunities in the game today, but obviously didn’t take as many as we would like, and then found ourselves behind. Credit to the boys, they kept going, and I feel like we got our reward not only for today, but for our efforts over the last three or four games.”
Okenabirhie, who has been Dagenham’s recent shining light, drew particularly high praise from Currie after the game: “Fejiri was unplayable today. It wasn’t just about his goals, I think his all-round performance made it really difficult for their full-back. He kept putting fantastic balls in to the box, and was just a constant menace.”
High praise for a player who only turned 22 on Sunday, and will hopefully continue his stellar form for the remaining games of the season, with the Daggers hoping to get their play-off push back on track.